Background
The purpose of the New Course Supplemental Information Worksheet is to provide the curriculum review groups, including the Board of Trustees, with the information they require to make a decision about the course being proposed. The Supplemental Information Worksheet provides an affirmation to reinforce the course elements contained in California Code of Regulation (CCR), Title 5; the System Office Program & Course Approval Handbook; and the Accrediting Commission for Community & Junior Colleges (ACCJC) while addressing the standards of good practice expected by the Academic Senate for the California Community Colleges; California State University Chancellor’s Office; and Academic Senate of the California State University. These standards and guidelines are discussed more specifically in Chapter 2 of this Reference Book.
How to Complete the New Course Supplemental Information Worksheet
Fill in the Subject and Catalog Number for the proposed course. Fill in the Abbreviated Descriptive Title, which will appear on a student's transcript and internal reports at the college. You may use up to 19 characters, including spaces and punctuation. Fill in the Full Descriptive Title, which will appear in the catalog and schedule. You may use up to 40 characters, including spaces and punctuation.
1. The review groups need to know that the proposed course will contribute to the mission of the institution, as defined in California Education Code § 66010.4. Further, identify the institutional core competencies that this course will support. The Mission Statement and Core Competencies are printed in the college catalog and direct reference to them ought to be made in response to this question.
2. Indicate why the course is being proposed. This need statement should establish the role of the course in the major program or general education area(s) in which it is designed to serve. The educational or academic need must be definitively expressed as well as the reason that existing courses do not meet this identified need while clearly distinguishing the role of the proposed course from that of similar courses. The review groups will require that this need statement be based on objective data. Possible rationale could be from assessment of program learning outcomes, if a program has grown and changed so that a new course of study is required or if the department is seeking out a new market of people who have not come to the college in the past but who have an identified educational need which the college could fill by a new course offering within an existing program. For transfer courses this need is more easily established by determining both student demand and transfer applicability for existing university majors. It might be that there have been changes in curriculum structure at the secondary or university levels which call for a new course proposal or a state-wide group developed a different pattern of course offerings or a program that a new course of study is required. A new honors course proposal will require a verification memo from the Honors Coordinator. For career technical courses this need is significantly more challenging to establish and must rely on such things as researching labor market data, workforce projection, program accreditation group recommendation/requirement, advisory committee input, to name a few. Some helpful resources for Career and Technical Education course need data are:
Labor Market Information
This page will provide information and data for educators and training facility administrators about the occupations and skills for which the college should provide training. This is a part of the Employment Development Department for the state of California. The Employment Development Department (EDD) is one of the largest state departments with employees at hundreds of service locations throughout the state.
Centers of Excellence
The California Community Colleges Economic and Workforce Development (EWD) program is the statewide network for the delivery of education and training services to businesses, workers, and jobseekers in key growth industries and new technologies.
One of EWD’s ten regionally based sector initiatives, the Centers of Excellence, support the community colleges by providing customized data on high growth, emerging, and economically-critical industries and occupations and their related workforce needs.
O*Net™ Resource Center
The O*NET™ Resource Center is the nation's primary source of occupational information. Here you will find news and information about the O*NET™ program. This site is your source for O*NET™ products, including O*NET™ data, career exploration tools, and reports.
3. LBCC is authorized to offer over 100 programs of study, which are expressed in the Curriculum Guides for degrees and certificates. The response on the Supplemental Information Worksheet ought to make reference to an authorized program at the college, determined by the state’s Taxonomy of Programs (TOP Code) or should indicate that "stand alone" authority will be requested. Provide both the program title and TOP Code in answer to this question.
An approved program requires an organized sequence of courses that lead to a defined objective (degree, certificate, license), requires at least 18 units of credit work, and submission of said work to the System Office in the prescribed form for acceptance and approval (by both the System Office and the California Postsecondary Education Commission). Then a program will be issued a unique program code number, also called a TOP Code. A course that is part of an approved program means that it is required for a degree/certificate or is on a list of restricted electives that are part of a program. Program approval allows the college to collect apportionment, require students to take the prescribed courses, and to issue degrees or certificates with the approved title.
The program’s Curriculum Guide, identifying course placement, must be attached to the Supplemental Information worksheet. This will further validate the authorized program and that thought has gone into local program planning. Any new course proposal(s) that requires System’s Office application for a new credit program, substantial or non-substantial changes to an existing program must contact the Dean of Academic Services prior to the assigned Course Evaluation Subcommittee meeting to discuss System’s Office requirements, to verify the correct TOP Code/program information, and for feasibility.
Stand-Alone Courses
When a course is not part of an approved program, it is referred to as a “Stand-Alone Course”. By law Stand-Alone Courses may be locally approved until December 31, 2012. Stand-Alone Courses will be reviewed by using the same five criteria that are used for all course approval: mission, need, quality, feasibility, and compliance.
Noncredit Courses
Noncredit instruction (zero unit) can only be offered in specific areas detailed in regulation and Education Code. These nine entitlement areas are identified on the noncredit course outline of record or in Chapter 5 of this Reference Book.
Logically, the college cannot continue to add new curriculum without deleting the old, unattractive offerings.
References:
California Community College’s Program and Course Approval Handbook, March 2003 and CCR Title 5 Regulations, Sections 55100, 55002, 55002.5, 55182, 70901(b) (10)
Consult with the Academic Services Office or the Course Evaluation Subcommittee Chair for advice.
4. This course has now been classified in its discipline, which will also indicate what academic and/or occupational preparation is needed to teach the course. Proper assignment of a course to a discipline ensures that faculty with the appropriate expertise will teach the course. Using the State Disciplines List, identify the minimum qualifications to which the proposed course belongs. The State Disciplines List can be obtained from the Office of Human Resources or from the System Office. Generally a course is assigned to a single discipline. Some courses can also be listed in the Interdisciplinary discipline, which is the combination of two or more disciplines—the faculty member must meet the minimum qualifications of one of the disciplines listed for that Interdisciplinary discipline and have preparation in each of the other disciplines listed for the Interdisciplinary discipline.
5. It is very important for the faculty author and/or department head of a new course to clear the proposal with departments, which offer related curriculum. While a formal sign-off form is not required at this time, documented evidence of dialogue is imperative if the faculty author is to be successful in gaining final approval.
6. Any course, which is proposed for transfer to a four-year institution, should be discussed with the Articulation Officer. In particular, the proposed transfer-level course must be offered at the lower division level at a regional four-year institution rather than offered at the upper division level if it is to be considered as within the scope of the community college curriculum charter. Since most of our students transfer to either CSU or UC, alignment with those institutions’ lower-division curriculum is expected. However, accredited private universities in the region may also be referenced. The review groups expect a new course faculty author to research the offerings at other four-year institutions and to cite those offerings when answering this question. If the course is to fulfill a major requirement, please list the major in which the course will be used.
7. Vocational courses should be recommended by the program’s Advisory Committee. Therefore, any new course proposal should be presented and approved at a recent official Advisory Committee meeting. Correspondence from the chair of the Advisory Committee in support of the proposal is strongly recommended. Meeting minutes that document the Advisory Committee’s support of the new course proposal is acceptable. This documentation must be attached to the Supplemental Information Worksheet.
8. The Chancellor’s Office Management Information System (MIS) requires the tracking and reporting of various data elements. The funding agency category (CB23-funding for course development was an Economic Development Grant) is one such Course Basic required.
9. If there is a state or federal statute, which governs the course, it should be cited in this question. For example, work experience courses are governed by specific CCR Title 5 provisions and some licensing laws are relevant in a particular occupational course. Some of the areas of law in which compliance conflicts have arisen include:
The Supplemental Information Worksheet made provisions for the identification of the role(s) the department believes this new course might fill in the college’s curriculum. This area provides for the demonstration of program linkage, certificate development, and curriculum interpretation. The General Education Pattern and Certificate Approval Process at the college both require planning, thought, and awareness of submission timelines. Identify all requested approvals that this new course might fulfill. This is just an indicator to the faculty author to begin communication with others in regards to this request. Identifiers on this form do not begin this process. It is the faculty author’s responsibility to initiate contact with the Articulation Officer and/or Associate Degree/General Education Subcommittee Chair to discuss this request and that process.
Besides the school’s authorization signatures the Supplemental Information Worksheet requires the library department head or department representative to initial the form confirming that resources are sufficient to support the new course. Please add this requirement to the list of necessary approval signatures when proposing a new course. It is best if this signature is in place prior to submission of this document to Academic Services. If this is not done then it will be the department head or faculty author’s responsibility to make contact with the library department head to discuss resource needs for the new proposal and then obtain a confirmation memo to attach to the submitted worksheet. Proper planning for collegial consultation would be helpful in this instance.
Before the proposal is submitted, make sure to do the following:
1. Thoroughly proofread the materials.
2. Check to determine that all of the forms are completed in accordance with the guidelines in this Reference Book.
3. Verify that all requested items are included with the worksheet.
4. Retain a file copy of the curriculum documents for the proposed course.
Revised 02/25/2009